The present invention relates to door latch mechanisms and more specifically relates to latch mechanisms of doors of the type provided in vehicle compartments or enclosures for gaining access to fuel, oil or water fill spouts, for example.
Vehicles such as tractors and the like are often left unattended for relatively long periods of time in areas where it is difficult to maintain security and consequently the tractors are subject to acts of vandalism and theft. Accordingly, it is common practice to enclose various components of the vehicle and to provide lockable doors for gaining access to these components. The engines of these vehicles are among the components normally enclosed and to keep the doors within a manageable size some known vehicles have been provided with two or more doors adjacent to one another. In such multiple door arrangements, it is known to provide one of the doors with means for permitting it to be secured from the outside by installation of a padlock or to be locked by use of a key while the remaining door or doors are provided with a latch mechanism which is releasable only from the inside of the enclosure. The present invention is directed to such a latch mechanism.
Heretofore such latch mechanisms have not been entirely satisfactory due to their relative complexity.